Chapter 7 Bryce
If I thought Jada was beautiful when she was determined, she was even prettier laughing with her friend in the café. Even more so when she looked up at me with those surprised brown eyes, full lips slightly parted.
“You want to practice flirting with me?” Jada asked, confused.
“Perhaps during dinner,” I suggested, hands open at my sides.
Jada’s friend looked like she was eating this up, but then the barista called out an order of dirty chais. Letting out a disappointed sigh, Rei got up. “Fine, I’ll give you two some privacy,” she said before sauntering over to the coffee counter.
Standing this close to Jada made it hard to focus on anything else. Like how that kid outside had done a literal front flip off the rock while his mom was reading from a pamphlet of some kind.
Instead of responding to my offer, Jada said, “No construction at naptime today. Thank you.”
I smiled. “Why yes, I will accept a meal with you as a token of your gratitude.”
Her eyes narrowed while a playful smile formed on her lips. “Is that what I said?”
“With your eyes,” I replied, shrugging. “Has anyone told you I’m an excellent eye-reader?”
A snort sounded from behind me, and when I turned, I noted Jada’s friend trying to look anywhere else while she sat at another table with two paper cups.
My cheeks felt hot, but damn it, I was thirty-five years old, founder of a billion-dollar company, and I was not getting embarrassed around women... right?
Jada said, “You can come over, Rei.”
Rei walked over, setting the cups at the table before pulling up an extra chair. She spoke to Jada, saying, “Why don’t you let him take you out? A nice dinner could be fun. And a dirty martini.”
“You and your martinis.” Jada shook her head. “It’s not about dinner. I kind of like seeing him squirm, you know?”
“Hey,” I said. “Still here.”
Rei ignored me, saying, “He is kind of cute.”
Now my neck felt hot all over again. “I’m your boss... kind of.” Technically we contracted the cleaning company, but that was neither here nor there.
Jada said, “He’s also kind of my boss.”
“The daycare is also contracted by the company,” I butted in.
Rei gestured at me. “See? You don’t report to him.” Then a wicked smile crossed her lips. “Although that could be kind of fun, if you catch my drift.”
Jada nudged her friend under the table with her sensible black sneakers. “I’m going to put so many stickers on the floor,” she hissed.
Rei gasped. “Don’t you dare.”
I cleared my throat. “Maya made reservations at the Skylight Lounge in...” I glanced at my watch. “Half an hour. Care to join me, Jada?”
Both of their mouths fell open, and Rei said, “Same day rezzy at Skylight? Who did you blow?”
I chuckled. “I assure you, there were no ‘blows’ exchanged.” That place was impossible to get into. For most people. But I wasn’t most people.
Rei gave her friend a look that said, You have to go now.
But Jada examined her cuticles. “I’m allergic to shellfish, and considering the main offering is lobster...”
“Really?” I kicked myself. I should have had Maya see if Jada had allergies before making a reservation. As I thought of what to do next, Simon’s words flashed through my mind. You haven’t made a good enough pitch.
As chief marketing officer, Cruz was usually the one who made pitches around here.
I wracked my brain for tips he’d dropped here or there.
And then I remembered how extensively his team researched before each presentation.
I didn’t know enough about Jada to know what impressed her. But her best friend was right here...
“Hey, Rei?” I said.
She blinked up at me. “Hey, Bryce?”
I put on a charming smile. “I have a... what did you call it? ‘Same day rezzy’ at Skylight Lounge. Care to join me?”
Rei looked to her friend for permission, and Jada threw up her hands, an exasperated smile on her full lips. “Get your shellfish on, girl.”
Rei hopped up from the table, saying, “I’m going to change real fast! brB!”
As I watched her rush away, I said, “Did she just say ‘brB’?”
“She sure did.” There was a smile that tilted across Jada’s face and lingered in her eyes when I looked back at her.
“It’s going to take more than a reservation to impress you, isn’t it?” I asked.
Jada shrugged, standing up from the table, paper cup in hand. “Who says I can be impressed?”
I bit my bottom lip, eyeing the masterpiece of a woman in front of me. “My lack of good sense?”
She let out a laugh, the sound music to my ears. “You’re funny, Bryce Madigan.”
“Does that mean you’ll say yes?”
“To what?” she asked, walking backward now.
Forever? I thought. That would solve my Simon problem. But instead, I said, “How about a date?”
She shrugged. “I’ll think about it while you’re at Skylight Lounge.”
I was about to reply when my phone started ringing. Shaking my head to clear it of the encounter, I glanced at the screen. Jude. When I looked back up, Jada had already turned away, going toward the exit.
With a sigh, I quickly held my phone to my ear. “Tell me you have good news.” All the levity from moments ago had evaporated like foam on a cappuccino.
Jude’s voice was practically a growl as he said, “No wonder Simon wants us to turn out differently from that no good son of a bitch.” I could hear the car door slam, and the background noise of wind quieted.
I cringed, asking, “What happened?”
“Smug motherfucker sat on his bed like a goddamned king and said he’d die before giving up his shares. Says we’re stupid if we think he’ll turn down a cash cow for a gallon of milk.”
I mean, he had a good point, but no way I’d say that to Jude right now. “How long does he think it’ll be a cash cow with him and his siblings at the helm?”
“Too stupid to consider that they’d fuck everything up in a quarter,” Jude grunted. “Probably less.”
Getting up from the table, I started back toward the elevators. “We just need two of the three to sell to us, right? Then we’d have the majority, if the founders all stayed on the same page.”
The background noise on the phone picked up again, and Jude mumbled something I didn’t quite catch.
“Where are you?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Jude said over the growing background noise. “I’m staying the night in Tibet. Blowing off some steam at a bar.”
“Sounds like you need it,” I replied. “Just don’t give up. We still have Aleyna and Jasper to talk to.”
Jude sighed. “We both know Aleyna blows like the wind. Jasper’s a fucking freak.”
He was right, but I didn’t want to think about what that would mean for the company—for my future—if we couldn’t convince them to sell.
Heels clashed over the tile, and Rei sang, “I’m reaaadddy.”
I turned to take in her long black dress and strappy silver sandals. “Uh, Jude, I’ll have to call you back.”